By Bryce L. Friedman, Peter Guryan, William T. Russell Jr. and Vanessa K. Burrows
Historically, complaints regarding price gouging have arisen following hurricanes, tornadoes or other natural disasters. These disasters usually affect a limited geographic area and lead to local price increases for food, supplies or gasoline at brick-and-mortar retailers. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic has resulted in a wave of price gouging complaints in the context of a worldwide public health emergency. COVID-19 price gouging complaints present new challenges because of the combination of the global reach of internet commerce businesses and the global effects of COVID-19. The goods that have primarily been affected thus far include hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes and face masks, and everyday grocery items like chicken, rice and milk.
There have been a variety of responses to COVID-19 price gouging, including:
- Federal legislation, investigation and enforcement.
- State investigation and enforcement.
- Industry self-regulation.